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UNITED STATES .ATENT FFICE.

JOHN H. STEVENS, OF NEWARK, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO THE CELLU- LOID MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

MANUFACTURE OF COMPOUNDS F PYROXYLINE OR NlTRO-CELLULOSE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 269,345, dated December 19, 1882.

Application filed June 24, 1882. (No specimens.)

To an whom it may concern Be it known that I, JOHN H. STEVENS, of the city 01' Newark, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey, have invented cer- 5 tain new and useful Improvements in the Mannfacture of Compounds of Pyro'xyline or Nitro- Oellulose, of which improvements the following is a specification.

It is well known to those skilled in this manu- IO 'facture that alcohol is of itself a solvent of nitrocellulose under certain conditions-that is to say, ordinary alcohol, (such as is known as ninety-five per cent) when heated to about 160 or 1700 Fahrenheit, will readily dissolve the ordinary soluble forms of nitro-cellulose; or, if the nitrocellulose is made extra soluble, it can be converted into a solid compound with ordinary alcohol by the use of heated rolls; or, again, with a sufficient quantity of absolute alcohol or dehydrated alcohol, the ordinary forms of soluble nitrocellulose, such as are used in these compounds, can be readily converted in open rolls; but it is only with such qualifications that alcohol can be termed a solvent of nitrocellulose, and as the necessary conditions are difficult of attainment in the practical manufacture of these compounds alcohol alone is not used as a solvent, and, in a practical sense, is not classed with the solv- 0 cuts of pyroxyline. It is, however, a valuable ingredient of such compounds, and it is the object of my invention to render it available in the ordinary processes by employing in conjunction with it certain other ingredi- 5 cuts, which, as I have discovered, when combinedwith ordinary alcohol, constitute or form solvents of nitrocellulose under ordinary conditions.

It has long been known that, as above ex- 0 plained, while alcohol is not of itself an active or positive solvent of nitrocellulose under ordinary conditions, yet in conjunction with camphor or with ether and with several other substances it forms such an active solvent. The

4 5 category of these substances has heretofore been limited, and l have, by experiment, ascertained that while in themselves like alcohol not solvents of pyroxyline, yet in conjunction with alcohol the following new menstrua constitute active solvents under ordinary condi- 5o tions, to wit racetal, nitrate of amyl, nitrite of aniyl, oil of chamomile, oil of valerian, oil of golden-rod, oil of sassafras, oil ofanise, light oil of cinnamon, oil of cumin, oil ofcynaa ether, oil of dill, oil otelecampane, oil offennel-seed,0il of eucalyptus, oil of fennel-chaff, oil of wine, (heavy,)oilofworm-seed,oilofmyrtle,oiloflaurel, oil of marjoram, oil of peppermint, oil ofrue, oil of cinnamon-leaves, oil of palmarosa, oil of rosemary, (that from French flowers preferred.) oil of erigeron, and these are what I herein refer to as new menstrua. The best practice in using these ingredients in conjunction with alcohol is to add the alcohol to the nitro-cellulose,incorporatingin this mixture the coloring- 6 matters and other inert substances to be included in the product, and then to add the new menstruum, which may be any one of those enumerated above, or a mixture of any two or moreofthem. Thecompound shouldbeallowed to stand after the addition of the menstruum for about twelve hours in a closed vessel, and then be masticated in heated rolls in the usual manner, and the product should be formed into shapes before it has hardened or seasoned with time. Varying between the extremes given according as the menstruum selected is less or more volatile-the less volatile, as the oils, requiring the smaller proportion, and the more volatile, as the ethers, requiring the greater proportion-the proportions used will be about as follows: of pyroxyline, say, four parts, by weight; alcohol, three to four parts, by weight; any of the above-enumerated menstrna, (or mixtures of the same,') two to three 8 parts, by weight.

YVood-spirit may be usedin conjunction with alcohol and with my new menstrua; but in such case the menstruum should be first mixed with the nitro-cellulose and other ingreo dients, and the alcohol and wood-spirit mixed separately and added last. In other respects the treatment is the same as already described. With wood-spirit good proportions would be:

pyr0xyline,tw0 parts, by Weight; alcohol,one part; menstruum, one part; wood-spirit, one part, all by weight;

Having thus described the nature and 0h- 5 jects of my invention, What I claim as new,

and desire to secure by Letters .Patent, is-

As an improvement in the manufacture ofl compounds of pyroxyline, the employment, in

conjunction with alcohol, (ethylic or methylic,) of the hereinbefore-specified new menstrua or to mixtures of the same, substantially as described.

JOHN H. STEVENS. \Vitnesses AB RAIIAM: MANNEns, J. O. FORGE. 

